


a clean break

by wrennette



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-14 22:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13017705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/pseuds/wrennette
Summary: Upon his return to Coruscant from a mission, Obi-Wan makes an unexpected discovery.





	a clean break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yatzuaka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatzuaka/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You have a hobby of collecting rocks the size of a ball....](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/344979) by @writing-prompt-s. 



> Yatzuaka made me do it.
> 
> Although they aren't present in this story, Qui-Gon is alive and Anakin is his Padawan.

It was a crutch, Obi-Wan knew, to continue meditating with the stone Qui-Gon had given him. He needed to let go of his attachment to his once Master. But the stone - sometimes Obi-Wan could swear he still felt Qui-Gon in the stone. It resonated softly in the Force, not like a living thing, but not truly like a stone either. So Obi-Wan meditated with it yet, the stone warm from his hand when he sought communion with the Force. 

When he went on missions, Obi-Wan left the stone behind, perched on his window sill with plants grown from cuttings of those in his Master’s quarters. They too carried a faint sense of Qui-Gon, being offshoots of that man’s carefully tended plants. But that would fade in time, and Obi-Wan supposed that eventually, even the stone would be but a stone. Until then, it was a little treasure, a little bit of home now that he was on his own. Now that there was another at Qui-Gon’s side.

Returning from Corellia, the neutral site of negotiations he had attended on behalf of the Order, Obi-Wan left a trail of discarded clothing as he went to put on water for tea, then quickly shower. The faintest sense of something being out of place caused him to stop short as he passed the single window in his small dorm. Obi-Wan blinked, then blinked again. 

Where Obi-Wan was certain he had left his stone, lay instead what could best be described as fragments. The outside was - it was the stone, Obi-Wan was all but certain of that. Except - except clearly the stone had not been a stone. The inside was a faded red, with faint marks of a liquid having evaporated off the surface. The deep violet foliage of his Pantoran orchid shivered, and from within peered a small, leathery face. 

“Hello,” Obi-Wan greeted quietly, stretching out his hand. “Is this your doing then?” he asked, and the creature chirred, cautiously extending their head from within the tall spear shaped leaves. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but smile at the little creature, reaching out in the Force to reassure it. While he might have teased his Master about acquiring Pathetic Life Forms, often it would be Obi-Wan who undertook the care and later repatriation of their tag alongs. A little mouth full of tiny needle-sharp teeth latched onto the pad of Obi-Wan’s finger, and the little creature let out a quiet little growl that set their whole body vibrating.

“Yes, you’re very fierce, aren’t you?” Obi-Wan asked, carefully extracting his finger and running it along the ridge of the little one’s head and down their neck. “I’ll have to figure out what you eat. First though, I need a shower.” The creature chirruped, then growled again, stumbling forward on two wings and two legs. The morphology was not terribly unlike that of a hawkbat, but this creature was much smaller, and the colouration was all wrong. 

Native Coruscanti Hawkbats hatched out in a greyish green colour, but this little creature was a deep red with black striations, not unlike the colouring of the supposed stone they had hatched from. The similarity spurred Obi-Wan to remember that hawkbat eggs were often mistaken for stones, but he couldn’t imagine they could linger unhatched for so long before suddenly bringing forth life. The stone had been in Qui-Gon’s possession for decades, since he himself was a teenaged Padawan. It was a puzzle to be sure, and one Obi-Wan would soon consult the archives on, if only to determine the dietary needs of the little creature. 

“Oh, do you want a shower too?” Obi-Wan teased, laying his hand flat. The reptavian butted their head against the side of his hand, then clambered into his palm. The head was only about the size of Obi-Wan’s thumb, and although the long wings draped over the sides of his hand, the bulk of the little creature fit easily in his palm. They were rather adorable, in their reptilian way. With a soft huff, Obi-Wan made his way to the ‘fresher, and finished stripping out of his travel worn clothing. 

By the time Obi-Wan stepped into the shower, the little creature had found their way up his arm to perch somewhat wobbily on his shoulder, leaving a trail on needle-prick punctures in their wake with minuscule claws. He only hoped they didn’t mind water, because it had been far too long since his last water shower, and he intended to indulge. When the water washed over them, the creature squawked and nearly tumbled from Obi-Wan’s shoulder. 

Obi-Wan gently steadied them, and soon they had tipped their head into the spray and was gulping the moisture down. Another grin broke across Obi-Wan’s face, and he set about washing himself up, then carefully washing bits of dirt and dried albumen from his little friend. Once clean and dressed, Obi-Wan treated himself to a much desired cup of tea, contemplating the small flyer. 

The creature still carried echoes of Qui-Gon about them, as the ‘stone’ had. Obi-Wan felt echoes of his own presence too though, and wondered how much of their energy the reptavian had absorbed over the years. Qui-Gon too, Obi-Wan knew, had used the stone as a meditation aid. How had they impacted the creature, Obi-Wan wondered. He again reached out to them in the Force, and this time mostly felt their hunger. 

“Alright then,” Obi-Wan acceded. “Let's find out what you are, so we can get you and me both something to eat.” He would have to report to the Council soon enough, but he had time until then. He tucked the little reptavian into his tunics, and they clutched happily enough at the fabric, warming themself against Obi-Wan as he headed to the archives.

Of the numerous known reptavian since though, Obi-Wan soon found none matched his little friend. They all had too many limbs or were the wrong colour or the wrong size or had beaks rather than teeth. None. Which meant the species was either thought extinct or not catalogued in the Order’s Archives. The first option, Obi-Wan thought, was actually more likely than the second. New avenue of research decided upon, Obi-Wan pulled the archaeological overview of Qui-Gon’s home world of Éire. 

Oilliphéist, Obi-Wan read and traced a fossilized bone structure in a thesis. This - this was his little friend. Little. Ha. That - if he was right - that would change. Olliphéist grew taller than most humans, according to the fossil record, and had a larger wingspan than the aiwhas of Naboo, massive flying cetaceans. Given that most finds bore evidence of predation, there was theorization that the Oilliphéists might continue growing indefinitely given adequate resources.

“Well then, a carnivore,” Obi-Wan murmured absently, stroking the reptavian’s spinal ridge. It was more or less what he had expected given the hatchling’s rows of sharp teeth and heavy jaw. “We’ll need a name for you too.” The creature chirred softly, and Obi-Wan for the first time realized that they were not only echoing his own and Qui-Gon’s Force presences, but emanating one of their own, sharing their contentment with - mother was the best approximation Obi-Wan could make, and it both flustered and pleased him. 

With a slight smile lingering at the corners of his mouth, Obi-Wan set out for the refectory. It was close enough to mid meal that it made no appreciable difference, and he might as well take the opportunity to feed them both before he debriefed with the Council. Likely they would be interested in this development, as well as his standard post-mission report.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [life finds a way](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13392303) by [Yatzuaka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatzuaka/pseuds/Yatzuaka)




End file.
